On June 17, 1789, with talks of national reform reduced to an issue of voting, the representatives of the Third Estate met alone and officially adopted the title of the National Assembly. Three days later, they found the chamber doors locked and guarded by soldiers. This conflict culminated in the French Revolution, a social and political upheaval against France’s aristocracy from 1789 to 1799. Maximilien Robespierre (1758-1794), known to his contemporaries as “The Incorruptible” and hailed as a main proponent of a new France, was one of the most prominent figures during this time. In an ironic twist of fate, his actions during the Reign of Terror overshadowed his efforts at the start of the revolution, leading to his death by guillotine.
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In his mind, “he was the instrument of Providence, charged with delivering France to her exalted future. If France were not yet worthy of such a future, it was clear to him that they must be regenerated--through virtue or terror--until they became what destiny demanded of him.” On the eve of his ascension to power, Robespierre scribbled in his notebook, pledging to preserve the revolution by persecuting all who oppose its ideals. Like most educated men of his generation… rewarded atheism as a vice of the aristocracy… Randomised and gratuitous Terror, he felt was more likely to weaken than to strengthen the republic.” However, he builds upon this method of terror to mold France, saying:
If the mainspring of population government in peacetime is virtue, the mainspring of popular government in revolution is virtue and terror both: virtue, without which terror is disastrous; terror, without which virtue is powerless. Terror is nothing but prompt, severe, inflexible justice; it is therefore an emanation of virtue; it is not so much a specific principle as a consequence of the general principle of democracy applied to the homeland’s most pressing
In his mind, “he was the instrument of Providence, charged with delivering France to her exalted future. If France were not yet worthy of such a future, it was clear to him that they must be regenerated--through virtue or terror--until they became what destiny demanded of him.” On the eve of his ascension to power, Robespierre scribbled in his notebook, pledging to preserve the revolution by persecuting all who oppose its ideals. Like most educated men of his generation… rewarded atheism as a vice of the aristocracy… Randomised and gratuitous Terror, he felt was more likely to weaken than to strengthen the republic.” However, he builds upon this method of terror to mold France, saying:
If the mainspring of population government in peacetime is virtue, the mainspring of popular government in revolution is virtue and terror both: virtue, without which terror is disastrous; terror, without which virtue is powerless. Terror is nothing but prompt, severe, inflexible justice; it is therefore an emanation of virtue; it is not so much a specific principle as a consequence of the general principle of democracy applied to the homeland’s most pressing